The Bombay High Court on Monday said it will, on June 12, dispose of the plea filed by filmmaker and actor Amol Palekar against a provision of the Bombay Police Act, 1951, that amounts to pre-censorship of theatrical performances.
A Division Bench of Justice Shantanu Kemkar and Justice M.S. Karnik was hearing the petition, which states that the actor was aggrieved and dissatisfied by provisions of Section 33 (1) of the Act. The petition said Mr. Palekar was also dissatisfied with the provisions of the Rules for Licensing and Controlling Places of Public Amusement (other than cinemas) and Performance for Public Amusement including Melas and Tamashas, 1960.
The petition points out that numerous plays have suffered illegal actions on the part of the Commissioner of Police. It also says that the provisions of Section 33 (1) amount to excessive delegation of legislative powers and are in violation of Article 14 (equality before law) and 19 (1) (a) (freedom of speech and expression) of the Indian Constitution.
The petition states that the provision does not prescribe any guidelines for formulation of rules and is therefore arbitrary. The petition submits, “The requirement of certification by the Maharashtra State Performance Scrutiny Body results in pre-censorship of a script of a play prior to its performance is an unreasonable restriction on the fundamental rights.”
The petition has sought for the provision of the Bombay Police Act to be declared unconstitutional. On September 26, 2017, the State government had informed the High Court that plays and tamashas are excluded from pre-censorship as per a circular issued in March. The court said it will take up the matter for final hearing on June 12 and dispose it of.
